Independence Day
by Dragon Fairies
Summary: Just over five years have passed since Patient Zero took his first bite, and Columbus is noticing some changes.
1. OneShot: Independence Day

Fire: Happy Fourth!

* * *

Five hard years of sparse homeruns, a hand full of hits, and heaps of near misses and it seemed it was all over. Over the years the zombies had rotted to the point that they could no longer move, or live in anyway. For the last two, every where they went was abnormally quiet. Once there was sound of rushing cars, laughing and screaming children, then there were groans and moans of the undead, and then… there was nothing but silence. All the quietude unnerved Columbus, silence wasn't something he was very accustomed to, but it suited his other three companions just fine, though Tallahassee had to find a new way to vent his frustration. Columbus, however, couldn't acclimate, not even with two years to do it.

With Wichita, Little Rock, and Tallahassee's complacence, it was no wonder that they didn't see the changes. Columbus did see the differences as they drove, fewer carcasses littered the roads and cars no longer dotted the highways. Every now and then while they traveled closer and closer toward the east coast, the curly haired young man could swear he'd seen lights.

Though even with all the serenity that their little group shared, there was still a sort of tension, like somehow, even though they were constantly moving, they weren't getting anywhere. Columbus found he couldn't go all the way with Wichita, and Little Rock was just an outright NO. Tallahassee and Wichita were too much alike for anything to happen.

Every now and then the four of them liked to settle down for a bit, and it was during one of these down times that Columbus decided that they were missing something that they sorely needed—re: bodywash—so decided that he would go into town to deliver them from this stench. And it was there, in that quaint quiet little town, that he saw the lights. His heart beat fast at the implications, his breathing quickened. This town was alive; Alive enough that the lights in the market store were still on. He walked into the store and saw a bored cashier. Columbus' heart nearly stopped then and there.

Slowly the once shut-in, shy young man made his way over to the other young man. His dark eyes were careful and cautious under unruly bangs. When the other saw Columbus he gave a soft smile. Columbus knew then that the young cashier man was real, was alive, was here.

"Umm, I need some bodywash." His voice was nearly inaudible to himself.

It seemed as though the man had heard no matter how quiet Columbus was, as he replied, "All I need to see is your ration card." He had a thick brogue.

That one comment made Columbus physically start. "I… We… We don't have one. Just this time yesterday we were in eastern Iowa. We haven't been out this far east for nearly three years."

This time it was the cashier's turn to start. "Survivors? We didna think there were any."

"Ah, yeah," Columbus didn't have anything to say to that. "Most live up in the Rockies. Places like Black Hawk, Buena Vista, and Silverthorn."

Suddenly, Columbus' soft voice seemed to hit the other man. The curly haired man was out of his depth, there was a difference between a city full of refugees just trying to get by and a living, thriving city. Quickly the man ran to the back to grab what Columbus the bodywash. Quickly, Columbus was sent on his way with the information that the Survivor Aid Station would be open the next day and that they were free to go there for counseling on what they're futures could be. There was little Columbus could do but take in all of what the other was saying without really grasping. Just before he left the store he turned around to ask one thing.

"What's the date?"

"It's July fourth." The cashier told him with a genuine smile.

On his drive back to the little house outside town there was silence; The same silence that just thirty minutes ago had him on edge listening to. His past hour was so surreal that he didn't know what to make of it. So he just blanked his mind, until a though hit him. It was July Fourth. It was his day if Independence. Independence from the United States of Zombieland.

When he walked into the house all three of his companions noticed immediately his distracted state. Oddly enough, they were quiet as he gathered his composure. It was hard to piece together all that he had learned, but he did his best, from the beginning.

Later he sat on the couch in the darkness, in the silence he hated so much. Tallahassee came in and sat next to the younger man, quietly wrapping an arm around his shoulders. Not one word escaped the older man as Columbus processed. A burning sensation built up behind the younger's eyes, but no tears escaped. Five years of this abnormal lifestyle caused by patient zero, and the thought of normal society scared him to death. Almost as if reading the younger's mind, Tallahassee spoke.

"We've managed this long in not getting our bodies eaten up by cannibals, we can sure as hell manage to keep our minds from being eaten by modern socialism." Columbus couldn't keep an amused half smile on his face at that comment.

"Yeah." The young man agreed. "It's our Independence Day, July Fourth now has more meaning than ever."

A deep chuckle left the older man at that. "Our Independence Day… I like that."

And from that moment on, they were free.

* * *

Ice: We're near dead right now as we wrote this, so please excuse our mistakes.

Wonton: We've really wanted to do a Zland fic for a while now, but out of all our ideas this is the one that got completed.

Randa: Tell us what you think.

Fire: And if your interested we have some challenges for you Zlanders out there, just ask if your interested.


	2. Challenge: An Unexpected Development

An Unexpected Development

Challenge 1- Zombie!Columbus

Fire: What would the gang do if they found out they couldn't kill an infected Columbus? Would they keep him? Would they leave him? Would they settle down? Would they keep him in the back of the truck? Would they feed him fresh meat or road kill? Is there a difference? Does he stay violent and vicious? Or does he mellow out over time? Does Columbus get better?

Randa: For this challenge we'd like to see those questions answered. In our heads it went that they kept him, fed him fresh meat, and that he gets better, but the writer that wants to take this on can do as they please..

Ice: We won't deny that we're slash fans, however none of our challenges will have set pairings.

Wonton: Although we wouldn't mind seeing more Tally/Columbus action in this section

Fire: And now, without further ado, here's how we would start this story off.

* * *

All of them were shocked. All of them were fixated on the wound oozing blood from Columbus' neck. It was hard to believe that the one who was the most careful was the first of their four to receive this death sentence. Columbus was turning white-though they couldn't tell if that was from blood loss or from fright or maybe a mixture of both. Tallahassee was a scrambled pot of anger and grief. Even Tallahassee himself couldn't tell if that anger he was feeling was for himself for not being able to do anything or Columbus for being careless enough to be bitten in the first place. Wichita was a dump of so many emotions that she was hard to decipher. Little Rock, however, was close to tears. Columbus was her brother; someone she knew wouldn't laugh if she went to him when she had a nightmare. He wouldn't look at her like she was stupid or blasphemous if she didn't know something from the world before. But when she saw Columbus' breaths starting to come in shorter and faster, she immediately whipped the butt of her riffle across his temple.

Both her sister and Tallahassee looked at her shocked as Columbus dropped to the ground. All she could do was shrug before she spoke. "He didn't need to hear that none of us could shoot him or even the beforehand that he needed to be shot at all." The young girl was entirely remorseless.

"That doesn't mean you had to belt him in the head." The older girl spoke up. Little Rock rolled her eyes.

"He was going to knock himself out anyway," She told them.

Tallahassee gave her a hard look, but said nothing about her actions. "Now we just gotta figure out who gonna do the deed."

Little Rock gave an exasperated sigh. "None of us are going to shoot him, stab him, or bury him alive." Tallahassee looked affronted at this, as if Little Rock was challenging his manliness. "Don't get me wrong, I'm not sayin' it like I wanna die to, cause I don't, but none of us has the balls to actually shoot him dead."

Both Wichita and Tallahassee looked majorly miffed at the young teen's words, but at the same time they knew that it was the truth. Even with all the effort Tallahassee put into keeping them all distant from each other, it was just wasted effort. Wichita even had to agree that the four of them were closer than family, Columbus was their oil in their shifting gears, and now the boy was as good as gone. Truthfully it had been him and all of his stupid rules that had kept them all alive this long—although they only listened to him about a quarter of the time.

"So what?" Wichita finally spoke out in a dry tone. "We just leave him here because we couldn't put him out of his misery?"

"Well we don't have any proof so far that they never get better." Little Rock's eyes were full of hope right now. "If we could keep his neck wound from getting infected and keep him from hurting himself even more, then maybe he'll get better."

Tallahassee heaved a large sigh, catching on to what Little Rock wanted. "We're gonna have a lotta in front of us if we're gonna keep the Spitfuck."

At that moment they were all in agreement. They didn't know if what they were going to do would be the best idea, or if it was even the most humane, but Little Rock had hope and her older companions couldn't take that away from her.

* * *

Fire: And that's what we're giving you.

Ice: If you want to use this, or start off on a completely new slate, we say go for it.

Wonton: The only thing we ask is that you drop us a line when you start it up.

Randa: Next up is Second Chances.


	3. Challenge 2: Second Chances

Second Chances

Challenge 2- Alive!Buck, Guardian/Savior!Columbus

Fire: After finding something worth protecting before ever even meeting Tallahassee, Columbus is a lot more forceful when he meets the two girls and Tallahassee in that supermarket.

Randa: In this Tallahassee is in Texas because he was looking for his son, who was visiting his mother. Columbus, on a foraging hunt, manages to save the boy before he becomes fast food for his mother. How will this change the flow of the movie plot? How would this change The Rules?

Ice: And here we're going to write our version of the supermarket scene.

Wonton: This is one we would like to get into the hands of a Tallumbus fan…*winkwink*Hint, hint.

Randa: But it doesn't have to, we just want to see the movie with this development to it.

* * *

Inside the car it was quiet with only the soft uplifting sounds of a Raffy CD breaking the silence. Looking in the rearview mirror I could see that even though Buddy was quiet, the toddler wasn't actually asleep. I smiled, but didn't say anything, because Rule #32 was, 'Enjoy the Silence While You Can'—especially with a crabby three year old in your company. Surely enough, the moment the Raffy song was over Buddy had something to say.

"Brudder, I's hungwy." He told me.

"There should be granola bars in your bag, Buddy. The green ones you like." When I heard the crinkle of a wrapper I thought the matter was settled.

"Dewre's no moa." At that I slowly slowed the car down, so I could turn around and help him find them.

"Here I'll help you find them. " I unbuckled so I could turn around to face him.

I was faced with wide blue eyes placed in a chubby face with an exaggerated pouty bottom lip. "But I ate dem awl dis mowning." And there, on the seat next to his carseat, was the proof he was telling the truth. I can't believe that he'd eaten every last one of them already.

"Buddy, what have I told you about eating all your snacks at once?" I gave the little boy my best stern face, which was, admittedly, getting much better. He looked down, suitably chastised.

"Not to." His voice quavered, this was one conversation that we had somewhat often. He was all around pretty well behaved, but being three he just didn't understand the need to conserve food.

I turned back around and sighed as I buckled my seatbelt once more. I knew for a fact, without even having to get out and look, that our cooler was empty. However, I had been hoping to get a little further away from the big city of Austen Texas before absolutely having to stop and stock up. Without a shadow of a doubt I knew I was stopping in the next town. There was no way the two of us would survive if Buddy got cranky. So I got settled searching for the nearest store to stock up.

A nearly vacant and completely lifeless parking lot greeted us when I pulled in had me sighing in relief for a moment. Until my eyes landed on a black SUV with a meticulously white painted three on the side of it. Along with the fact that the SUV was suspiciously clean made me hesitate, before swallowing my fear and parking. I turned around in my seat, once I was unbuckled, to unbuckle Buddy. Immediately the boy climbed to the floor, a safety precaution I had set up in my paranoia. I knew for fact that zombies were not smart enough to look through a window to find their next meal, but if Buddy were to knock into the window… Well let's just say it wouldn't be pretty.

From there I began my trek inside.

* * *

Fire: Okay... WAS going to write the entire supermarket scene, but the girls said to with hold it until I write this story out myself.

Ice:Doesn't mean this challenge isn't up for grabs, in fact we really want to see this done.

Randa: Truthfully we can't believe that it HASN"T been done.

Wonton: Next up will be Reconstruction.


End file.
